SAGT – Strategic Approach to Green Transition 

The city of Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina is struggling with significant air pollution, mainly caused by a local coal-fired power plant, but also by other industries, traffic and coal-fired domestic heating. Reducing these emissions is not only the city’s goal, but also implements the EU’s Action Plan Towards a Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil, which is a key deliverable under the European Green Deal. In Tuzla, the first step towards reducing air pollution is to develop a municipal strategy to pave the way for the city’s green transition. However, the city administration has lacked the capacity to draft such a strategy.

Maribor in Slovenia has already implemented a circular economy transition strategy. With this project, it entered into a partnership with Tuzla to share its experience and know-how for developing a green transition strategy for the city of Tuzla with the aim of reducing pollution from three sources:  industry, transport and heating. 

Tuzla’s municipal employees acquired skills and tools for drafting, implementing and monitoring green strategies and learned about the policy mechanisms needed for a green transition. The project brought together the local public administration, industry, research and environmental organisations to contribute their expertise to the development of the strategy and foster cooperation on green issues. 

Once adopted by the city council, the strategy serves as a local framework and starting point for the city’s green transition. 

In a pilot, public buildings’ energy consumption was digitally monitored to demonstrate how innovative technologies can reduce pollution and how the city can play its part.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz53GnZ0OdM [croatian; source: RTV 7 Tuzla]